Tessa Jowell: Sponsors should use Tube not the VIP lanes

Sponsors paying £700million towards the 2012 Olympics were today urged to travel by Tube and bus in a bid to stop London's roads coming to a standstill during the Games.

Shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell called for executives from firms including McDonald's and Coca-Cola to rethink using VIP priority lanes and switch to public transport.

The calls come a day after David Cameron told his ministers they should use the Underground to ease the strain on the capital's road network.

Ms Jowell said: "I would say to all those sponsors - give public transport a chance before you get into your Games lane. Why would you want to stay around King's Cross and not get down to Stratford in seven minutes by travelling on the Javelin?"

The plea came as traders and commuters who rely on some of London's most congested roads said they feared business will be crippled next summer. VIP lanes - one third of the 109-mile Olympic Route Network - will help 82,000 athletes, officials, sponsors and media get to venues.

They will enjoy privileges over ordinary motorists, black cabs and even cyclists, who face a £200 fine if they stray into one.

Lanes will be imposed in central London, on The Highway in east London and around Wembley Stadium and Greenwich, as well as the main Olympic Park at Stratford.

Billingsgate trader Darren Walkerdine, 38, said: "We suffer some of the worst traffic in London so I think letting them use these routes is a liberty. Let them use the bus lanes instead."

Barber Charlie Brown, 56, from Buckhurst Hill, said the area was already regularly hit by traffic jams: "I've seen people getting out and sitting on their car bonnets, there's no more space for VIPs on these roads."

But London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "The network is one per cent of London's roads and the Games lanes are only a third of the ORN. I don't think the disruption will be unbearable."